Study found that African companies with at least 25% female Board representation enjoyed earnings 20% higher than average by industry.Three key findings:

In Africa, 5% of women are at the top in the private sector (CEO, executive committee and board), which is greater than the worldwide average, but women are increasingly underrepresented as they move up at all levels.

Africa has more women in its parliaments and cabinets than the global average. The report attributes the 15-year doubling of women in parliament and 5-fold increase in cabinets to countries setting targets for women’s representation.

However, as the report concludes, “… numbers do not equal influence.” African companies have more women in staff versus line roles (the latter more likely to present promotional opportunities) and women government ministers are more likely to serve in positions with less political influence (i.e., social welfare).

In a wide-ranging Bloomberg Business interview with Melinda Gates about the work of the Gates Foundation, including its $80 million commitment to using big data to improve gender equality, she addresses the lack of data about women, particularly in Africa. She gives an example about a triennial survey across the continent in which Ugandans, who surveyed about bringing income into the household. They found that when they included women, the responses added $700 million to the country’s economy. Simply put, Gates said, “What we don’t measure, we don’t work on.” Gates also talks about the US STEM “leaky pipeline,” again pointing out that without data, we can’t analyze and correct what has made the percent of computer science degrees earned by women to drop from 37% in the 1980’s to 18% today.